Cincinnati has filed a federal lawsuit against former quarterback Brendan Sorsby, seeking $1 million in liquidated damages after he transferred to Texas Tech without paying the required exit fee. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, alleges Sorsby breached his NIL contract by refusing to pay the fee within 30 days of his transfer.

The Bearcats claim Sorsby signed an 18-month NIL agreement worth millions that obligated him to stay for two seasons. When he entered the transfer portal on January 2 and immediately signed with Texas Tech, the university says he violated the contract's terms. Cincinnati's attorneys stated Sorsby's representatives advised he would pay nothing despite the clear contractual obligation.

This legal action follows similar cases at Georgia and Duke, where programs sued former players for damages after portal transfers. Sorsby, who started at Cincinnati for two seasons after transferring from Indiana, completed 61.6% of his passes for 2,800 yards and 27 touchdowns in 2025. The university argues it paid Sorsby expecting to benefit from his development in 2026, making his departure particularly damaging to their NIL investment strategy.